Education Minster Gideon Sa'ar can breathe a sigh of relief. Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino said Tuesday that a police inquiry into an anonymous letter accusing the minister of sexual offenses had revealed that "the document is completely fabricated."

Speaking to a conference of attorneys in Tel Aviv, Danino said the author's identity was still unclear to police, as was the question of whether the motivation behind the letter was political or personal. He said the investigation was still continuing.

"The person who decides whether to investigate ministers is the attorney-general, and we will wait for his decision," Danino said.

The letter, which accused Sa'ar of having inappropriate sexual relations with female employees, was purportedly signed by his former adviser with the initials "M.C." It was addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and also sent to Likud Central Committee members two weeks ago, and demanded that the prime minister prevent Sa'ar from continuing as education minister in the next government.

The letter was signed only with initials, but those who received it knew to whom it referred. "M.C." denied that she wrote the letter.

A senior official familiar with the inquiry said Tuesday that the allegations raised against Sa'ar were "completely baseless." The Movement for Quality Government in Israel congratulated the police for acting "quickly and determinedly to investigate the forged letter."

Sa'ar continued to refuse to comment on the affair. A week ago, Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein directed police to investigate the letter. Now that the letter has been revealed as a fake, the assumption among investigators is that the person behind it wanted to sabotage Sa'ar's career.